ONE of the most bizarre moments in National Basketball Association history happened on March 23, 1979 when the Philadelphia 76ers played host to the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets at the old Spectrum in a game that was being replayed under protest by the Nets.
Take note, Ripley: Four players appeared in the boxscore of both teams in the same contest – the only such occurrence in NBA annals – following a trade transaction involving the quartet.
The original game had been played on November 8, 1978 but by the time it was replayed in March of the following year, a pair of Philadelphia players had joined the Nets while two New Jersey ballers had switched to the Sixers in a four-man swap.
On February 7, 1979, New Jersey shipped guards Al Skinner and Eric Money to Quaker City for center Harvey Catchings, backcourter Ralph Sampson and cash.
The four players thus were listed on the rosters of both squads in the replayed game’s final boxscore. To this day, it marked the only time in the history of North America professional sports leagues that anybody “played” for both clubs in the same contest.
Recalled the 6-10 Catchings, whose daughter Tamika saw action for the Indiana Fever in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) during the 2000s. “I remember looking down at the boxscore the next day and seeing my name for both Philadelphia and New Jersey. It was kind of weird to say the least.”
“It was baffling,” said Skinner. “Could our names appear in the boxscores for both teams? For a long time, we weren’t sure they would allow us to play at all (in the re-started game in March).”
As it turned out, that was not an issue for Skinner since he never entered the game for either club. How did this unprecedented incident evolve?
It came about after then-NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien ordered a replay of a portion of the Nets-Sixers duel. O’Brien had upheld the Nets’ protest of their 137-133 double-overtime loss at Philadelphia on November 8 even though he denied their request that they be declared the winners.
The main bone of contention in the Nets’ protest was that a third technical foul was called by veteran referee Richie Powers on both Nets forward Bernard King and Nets head coach Kevin Loughery, and that, under NBA procedures, only two technical fouls could be called against any player or coach during a game.
In making his decision, O’Brien ordered the game be replayed from the point prior to the third technical foul assessed against King and Loughery as part of a quasi-doubleheader later that season.
Here’s exactly what happened. After King was whistled his second T, which meant an automatic ejection, he furiously kicked a chair as he left the court. King’s action prompted Powers to slap him with a third T.
An enraged Loughery protested, and within minutes he also was hit with his third T. The Nets argued that calling three Ts was illegal, but Powers waved them off.
When the protest game resumed more than five months later, Philly was ahead, 84-81, with five minutes and 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Sixers went on to score a 123-117 victory.
The two clubs met later that night in a regular-scheduled game, which the 76ers also triumphed, 110-98.In the replayed game, none of the four “history-making” players had much bearing on the outcome.
Catchings, who went scoreless in the original contest, fared the best, contributing eight points and four rebounds for the Nets in 14 minutes.
Simpson did not score for the Nets after tallying 10 markers (two of which were erased officially following the replay) for Philly.
Money got four points for the 76ers after pouring in 37 points (including 14 that came after King’s ejection and therefore were removed from the official final boxscore) for New Jersey in the protested game.
Statistically speaking, the replayed game was one for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.